By Erik Harris
CLAY – After winning two consecutive games to take the Class 6A, Area 12 tournament championship, Pinson Valley head coach Clint Argo watched three of his players land on the all-tournament team, including Donevan Waldrop, who took home the tournament’s most valuable player award.
Waldrop played all but nine minutes and 25 seconds of the Indians’ two tournament games and didn’t waste a moment of his time on the floor, scoring 58 total points with 10 assists and nine rebounds.
Donevan Waldrop
photo by Erik Harris
“When you’ve got a player like Donevan who’s playing the way he is, you really don’t say much to him,” Argo said. “Even if he makes an off-balance shot, are you going to get on to him if it goes in? You just have to let him play on some levels.”
The point guard’s efficiency from the field was unmatched by any other player in the three-team tournament. Sometimes he attacked the rim; sometimes he stepped back behind the arc. Either way, the ball found its way through the net.
“If they opened it up for me, I started kicking it to the corner, then they had to respect the outside shooters and it started giving me openings up top,” Waldrop said.
Waldrop aimed well on 55 percent of his shots while going 8-for-15 from 3-point distance. His aggressive play got him to the charity stripe nine times, going 14-for-18.
Pinson Valley power forward Cornell Hale and guard D’Andre Hart also got their hands on Alabama High School Athletic Association all-tournament team certificates.
Hale played nearly 52 minutes for the Indians, scoring 16 points and securing 13 rebounds. Hart added 20 points and eight rebounds. The guard didn’t release too many shots, but got 67 percent of them to fall.
That trio of Waldrop, Hale and Hart led Pinson Valley to a 55-54 win over second-seeded Center Point on Thursday before downing tournament host and top seed Clay-Chalkville 76-68 on Saturday.
The Cougars were represented by senior Kenneth Cotton and sophomore Nico Collins on the all-tournament team. Cotton led the hosts with 19 points in the championship game while Collins pitched in for 11 points and four boards.
Center Point’s Dedric Foreman also made the all-tournament team.
